Ole Miss men's basketball looks helpless in loss vs Missouri

OXFORD — Three days ago, there was a much different feeling inside The Pavilion when the Ole Miss men’s basketball team took a 14-point first-half lead against No. 2 Auburn.

The Rebels had suffered a blow in the previous game, losing to Texas A&M while discovering leading scorer Jarkel Joiner would miss six weeks as he underwent an operation on his injured back. The lopsided lead early on against one of the best teams in the country offered hope that they could weather the storm.

Until it all fell away.

Auburn roared back. And three days later, facing bottom-tier Missouri, Ole Miss looked hapless — as if the collapse against Auburn had sapped any remaining energy. Tuesday’s inglorious 78-53 loss to Missouri (8-9, 2-3 SEC) was in stark contrast to the heights that preceded the Rebels’ rapid plummet, leaving them with three straight losses and mounting frustration.

"We're not the first team to get hit like this," Ole Miss coach Kermit Davis said. "It's disappointing, embarrassing, but we'll get our team back to playing quality basketball."

FOLDING: How Ole Miss basketball blew another big first half lead, lost 80-71 vs. No. 4 Auburn

AS IT HAPPENED: Ole Miss men's basketball vs Missouri: Live updates, score

There are injuries, with Joiner chief among them. But forward Robert Allen, another team leader, is also out for the season after suffering a torn ACL in December. Guard Austin Crowley missed Tuesday's game with a sprained ankle, depleting a young backcourt further.

But those absentees weren’t the lone reasons for the stupor Ole Miss (9-8, 1-4) found itself in during the first half— the kind of turnovers and anger-inducing shot selections that caused Davis to use all of his team’s timeouts before halftime. And while the Rebels improved with better defense and some open 3-pointers, spotting an opponent a 20-minute head start wasn’t the recipe for victory.

Davis could tell a poor performance could be on the cards. He stopped Monday's practice early due to a lack of lack of effort and focus.

"Done it long enough that you can kind of smell it coming," Davis said. "Didn't smell that bad, but knew we wouldn't be at our best. Just got beat in every facet of the game."

A porous defense

The 3-2 zone Davis employed late in the first half seemed to be working — until it wasn’t.

The Ole Miss guards had trapped Missouri’s ballhandlers near the half-court line, dogging the Tigers 30 feet from the basket. But late in the shot clock, Missouri’s Trevon Brazile got open on a backdoor cut. The pass found him, the layup went through the rim and the lead swelled. Davis called a timeout, hoping to stop a swell that was mounting.

The first half continued the sort of lackluster defense seen against Texas A&M, when the Aggies shot 55.8%. On Tuesday, Missouri shot 55.6% in the opening period — leading to a 15-point advantage — and finished 63%.

Missouri wasn’t settling from 3-point range. The Tigers attempted just seven shots from deep, scoring 38 of their points in the paint.

Ole Miss tends to run a 1-3-1 zone, but with injuries and new players in new positions, Davis had to run primarily man defense. Davis said Missouri's ability to drive the lane against the man was especially costly.

Shot selection

After Tye Fagan attempted a deep step-back 2-pointer early in the shot clock, Davis turned away from the court and pointed down the bench for a substitution. The shot had clanked, and even if it had gone in, the attempt wasn’t what Ole Miss needed at the time.

There were plenty of questionable shots in the first half, resulting in a 26% shooting clip. That rose to 43.3% in the second half, but there was no slowing down Missouri.

"We've seen our team run good offense and play against really good teams in a good way," Davis said. "It just wasn't our night tonight. I take full responsibility for that."

Second-half push

At a certain point, Davis opted for drastic measures. Looking for a spark, the coach inserted a lineup that featured four freshmen — Eric Van Der Heijden, Daeshun Ruffin, James White and Grant Slatten.

There was an initial burst, with a 3-pointer from Ruffin off an inbound cutting the Rebels’ deficit to 10 and bringing The Pavilion back to life.

"I was just trying to find some guys that would play with some toughness," Davis said. "We got some lineups that have never been out there. And that's no excuse; Missouri beat that group too."

Just as quickly, that noise ceased and fans headed for the exits, with Missouri embarking on a 15-0 run that ended any chance of a comeback.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Ole Miss basketball looks helpless in blowout loss vs. Missouri Tigers